Frequently Asked Wedding DJ Questions

Your Questions, Our Answers!

Frequently Asked Wedding Questions

Wedding DJ Questions

If you Google search “wedding DJ Questions,” you get over a million results. You’ll likely read a few on the first page, and maybe go to the second page. Luckily, we’ve created our list of wedding DJ questions for you, based on the actual questions we get asked. Bonus: we’re actually a wedding DJ company. 🙂 Surprisingly, many people writing these questions are not actually wedding DJs.

These questions are great questions to ask your wedding DJ, and honestly, many of these questions can apply to many other wedding or event vendors, too! This is a list of our most frequently asked wedding DJ questions from our customers, and we also included our answers! Feel free to use our list of wedding dj questions to ask your DJ (or you can also ask these questions if you’re booking a band) even if you’re not booking with us! 🙂

Question 1. Can we create our own playlist or request songs to be played?

Answer: Absolutely! We encourage all of our clients to fill out our music planning sheet that will have the genres of music you prefer, as well as a list of favorite artists and any must-play or do-not-play songs! We do not charge extra to create your playlist. We have a huge online music library that has all genres of music. 

We even have a helpful “popular songs” section, which provides guidance and suggestions for key moments songs, such as first dance songs, father/daughter songs, etc. This is your wedding and you should be able to decide what we play! (By the way, this is the #1 question of all the wedding DJ questions, which is also why it’s #1 here). 🙂

Question 2: How many people will be working the day of our wedding or event?

Answer: It depends on the needs of your event. We typically have two people at every wedding/event that we do, but sometimes, just one person is available. We may have additional people come early, to help us set up, but by the start time, only one or two people will be at the entire event.

Question 3: Will you need a dinner or drinks for you or your staff?

Answer: We do request a vendor meal for any wedding or event that is 4 hours or longer. We ask this because our staff will arrive 2 hours before the start time of any event, and break-down for about 1 hour, after an event, which is a 7 hour day for us.

Wedding dj-questions - drinking on job

Question 4: Do you or your staff drink alcohol on the job?

Answer: This is one of the most important wedding DJ questions that you should ask not only your DJ, but all vendors. We’ve seen many other DJs, photo booth staff, photographers, and other staff, help themselves to a plate of food and help themselves to the open bar, which we completely do not understand. 

We’ve seen other staff intoxicated, while on the job, and we’re always amazed at how they stay in business. We’re professionals and we do not drink alcohol and require that all of our staff do not do this, either. We’ll gladly accept water or non-alcoholic drinks. 🙂

Question 5: Do you bring all the necessary equipment for our event or do we need to provide anything?

Answer: We bring all the equipment we need for every event we provide services for. For the DJ, we simply need an 8X8 area to set up, near a standard power outlet. The photo booth also has the same requirements. We do require a 6 foot table to be set up in the area where you’ll want the DJ. We will bring our own linen, or a linen can also be placed on the table. We usually provide our own photo booth table. We’ve heard of other DJs and DJ companies requiring the customer to rent the sound system, which is surprising! 

Question 6: Do you bring back up equipment, in case anything happens?

Answer: Yes, we certainly do. All of our DJs are very experienced and know how to handle a situation where they may need to make adjustments, if equipment isn’t working correctly. We always check-in with our staff during set up and are available “on-call”, if problems arise at any time during the event.

Question 7: Do you have other staff, available, if the DJ or photo booth attendant gets sick or has an emergency?

Answer: Yes, we have several DJs who work with our team and we always check-in with every DJ, the week of the event. We also check in with the DJ and/or photo booth staff 24 hours before the event and then again, 4 hours before the event start time, to ensure they’re going to make the event. 

If a DJ or photo booth attendant is sick or has an emergency, we will notify the customer immediately and provide an experienced, professional staff for the event.

Question 8: What is your cancellation policy?

Answer: Our cancellation policy states that all deposits are non-refundable. We will apply your deposit towards any future event, if you have a signed contract. We will, however, refund 100% of any payments made toward the balance, outside of the deposit. 

Fortunately, our deposits are very reasonable. Most DJ companies require 50% of the total balance to book an event and the deposit is non-refundable. Our deposits are 25% of the total amount of your event, which we believe is fair. 🙂

Question 9: Is there an additional charge for special-requested dance floor lighting?

Answer: If there is a particular light that you request that we do not have, then we can obtain the light(s), if needed, for an additional charge.

Question 10: Do you provide an “MC” for our event, who will make necessary announcements?

Answer: Yes, we will gladly be the MC for your event, at no additional charge. Many companies charge an extra fee for an MC, which to us, is crazy. So the DJ will not say a word, unless you pay him/her? Wow. 

Question 11: Do you have bilingual DJs, who can make announcements in Spanish?

Answer: Yes, many of our DJs are bilingual, and can do this. If there is another language in which you need announcements, we will certainly let you or one of your guests make any announcement(s), with our PA system. We’ve done several weddings/events where other languages were spoken/used, (Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, ASL, etc.) and clients designated a person to make announcements for guests, in addition to our announcements. We also have bilingual wedding officiants! 

Question 12: How long does it take set up and break-down your equipment?

Answer: Depending on the needs of your event, the set up can take anywhere from 60 minutes, and up to 2-3 hours or more. Most weddings and events that we’ve done in venues in Austin and Central Texas, take about 60 – 90 minutes, to set up. Break down takes about one hour (or more if using multiple systems). 

Question 13: Is set-up/break-down time included in the time we purchase or charged separately?

Answer: this is one of the most popular of our wedding DJ questions. Be sure to ask all of your wedding vendors this question! We do not charge extra for set up; your time starts when the music starts, not when we arrive to set up. You are also not charged for break-down time, either. 

Exception: if you need us to set up earlier than 2 hours, or break-down later than one hour after the event ends, there is an additional charge. Example: wedding ceremony starts at 5 pm, and we’d normally arrive at 3 pm, to set up, but you need the DJ or photo booth to set up at 12 pm. Many companies do not include set-up/break-down time and charge additional fees for this time. Again, we do not do this, unless it is the above exception.

Questions to ask your DJ clothing

Question 14: What do you typically wear?

Answer: We always dress appropriately for the occasion. Our staff will wear slacks and a button up dress shirt. For outdoor, summer events, we have company Polo shirts we typically wear, with slacks. If we need to dress more formal, please let us know and we certainly can do this. By the way, the picture above is an example of how we’ve seen some wedding vendors dress for a WEDDING. We were surprised! We promise not to do this. 🙂

Question 15: Is there a minimum amount of hours to book?

Answer: Yes, we require a two hour minimum for DJ and 3 hour minimum for photo booth services. For weddings, we require a three hour minimum. 

Question 16: Will the DJ take requests?

Answer: Yes, we can certainly take requests. We will do our best to play all requests, given that we have the song and there is enough time to get through the written playlist and must-play songs. We ask all our clients to let us know if requests are okay and ask for any restrictions on requests, such as: “Yes, play requests, but no rap, metal, etc.”

Question 17: If the crowd is shy or not dancing, do you motivate the crowd to dance?

Answer: We rarely have to do this, but yes, we certainly can. We do numerous weddings and events, all year, so we know what people like and want to dance to. We play great music and people will dance!

Question 18: Can you assist me in finding music for our ceremony or reception?

Answer: Yes, we’ll be glad to assist you in planning your ceremony and reception music. We also have numerous planning tips on our blog! Click, below, to visit our blog!

Question 19: Do you provide any other services for weddings or events?

Answer: Yes, we certainly do! We provide: photo booth services (360 photo booth, mirror photo booth, open-air photo booth), uplighting, monogram lighting, sound for live ceremony performances, custom music mix/mash-up, projector, projector screen, lawn games, giant, lighted marquee letter rentals, cold spark machines, and more!

Question 20: When is the final balance due?

Answer: The final balance is due 3 weeks before your event. We’ll meet in person, or via phone or online chat, 4-6 weeks before your event date, to go over your planning forms, answer any other wedding DJ questions you may have, and collect/discuss the final payment. Many customer also opt to pay payments, and if they do, we send a new invoice, reflecting the payment and remaining balance, each time.

Question 21: Do you take breaks during the ceremony/reception?

Answer: Though most bands will take breaks at events, we do not take breaks. We will have a chair, next to us, and sit down, if needed. Being on your feet at events, all day, can be tough. 

Question 22: What if my DJ becomes ill or cannot make it to my event?

Answer: We have several DJs that work with us, and one of the owners is always open, in case this happens. Fortunately, this has never happened! We require our DJs to let us know as soon as possible, preferably at least 5 days before the event, if they cannot make it.

If this happens, one of the owners will personally DJ the event. We will review all of the wedding documents, to be sure we have all the music and ensure that all the event needs are covered.

Question 23: What time will you arrive to set up for our event?

Answer: We arrive approximately 2 hours before the start time of any event, to set up our equipment. If you book several options from us, such as a DJ. photo booth rental, and lawn games, we will usually arrive 2.5 – 3 hours before the start time of the event. If we need to arrive earlier than 2 hours and it is not a multiple services booking, there may be an additional charge.

Question 24: How does it work if I have a band playing and only need you to play during the ceremony, cocktail hour, and for the band’s break, later on during the night?

Answer: We base our rates based on the time we start and end any event. If we start the ceremony and then stop playing since there are live musicians, we cannot technically be on “break,” since we’re there at the event and cannot leave. 

Even though we may not be playing music, our DJs will often still make necessary announcements, call tables, facilitate toasts, speeches, etc. So we will charge based on the total amount of time we’re there, from the time we start until the time we end (we don’t charge for setup/breakdown time).

Question 25: Do you have liability insurance? 

Answer: Yes, we carry a $2 million liability insurance and we can add your wedding/event venue on it.

Question 26: How will you decide which of your DJs will DJ my event?

Answer: This is probably our most frequently asked question, of all the wedding DJ questions, and it’s very important. During our initial conversations, we’ll discuss the music you want for your wedding or event. Based on your music choices, we’ll select the DJ that best fits your needs. 

Although all of our DJs are very familiar with all genres of music, we have some DJs who really love certain genres. We’ll do our best to match you with the best DJ for your event. All of our DJs are very professional and experienced, and have done hundreds of weddings and events. They’re all sure to do a great job!

We certainly hope this list of DJ questions to ask your wedding DJ has been helpful for you. Be sure to check out the 50 questions to ask your wedding venue article, if you have not already booked a venue. 

Additionally, if you are interested in booking a photo booth, check out our Top 10 FAQ Photo Booth Rental Questions article, for tips and questions to ask your photo booth rental company. As always, if you have additional questions about our Austin DJ services, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to help!